Day 56 in the Afternoon
Ted and Robin had just left for Montauk.
Barney, for his part, had taken Marshall to a clearly fictitious charity event.
Alyx, meanwhile, with everyone out of the apartment, was quietly by the window, holding her reliable cup of coffee and smoking her first cigarette in this life, enjoying the silence, which was interrupted by the phone ringing.
It was Barney. "Alyx, I need you to come to the bar, now!"
"What's wrong? Is Marshall okay?" asks Alyx, worried.
"Well, he's okay, yes... But he has Lily's credit card bill and is talking about lies with George Clinton."
Alyx cursed under her breath. "I'm on my way." Quickly, Alyx put out the cigarette, closed the window, and left the cup with the little coffee left on the table. She grabbed her keys and left the apartment.
MacLaren's Bar
Upon entering the bar, she momentarily reminisced about her moments with the entire group—almost two months without even entering the bar, which was almost a second home for gatherings and fun. Alyx quickly recomposed herself upon seeing Barney and Marshall in a corner of the bar. On the table between beer glasses, as she approached, she saw the bill she thought she had torn up and thrown away, restored and with several lines highlighted in red. Marshall had his gaze fixed on the paper with obsession and horror at what he saw.
"August 5th," Marshall read in a low voice. "Charge 1: tickets for George Clinton and the P-Funk All-Stars. August 10th, Tennis Emporium. August 18th, Mario's Bistro and Pet Palace."
"Wow, Mario's Bistro," murmured Alyx, forcing a casual tone. "What a perfect place for... dinner." She finished as she sat next to Marshall and looked more closely at the bill.
Marshall closed his eyes tightly. "A ferret. She bought a ferret. She always wanted one, but I... I had this secret phobia of ferrets. It's something I made her promise not to tell anyone."
"She was," Alyx confirmed softly, remembering a drunken confession from Lily years ago.
Marshall's imagination was already on fire. "I bet she tells it to... to George Clinton now. 'Oh, George, my ex was afraid of ferrets, but you're so brave and funky.'"
"But those charges are from a month ago," Alyx tried to reason. "They're old."
"Exactly," said Barney, and his voice was pure venom. "For new charges, you have to go to her online account. You can see the credit card activity from like two hours ago." He paused dramatically. "But, you know, don't do it."
"You need her password for that," said Alyx, trying to divert the topic.
Marshall paled even more. "I have it. It's the name of her first doll. 'Sunshine.'"
Before Alyx or Barney could stop him, Marshall ran to the apartment. Upon arriving, he quickly searched for his laptop and was typing frantically. The bank page loaded. His fingers flew over the keyboard.
"There's a charge from today," he announced, his voice turned into a thread of horror. "From the Kellett Hotel. On Fifth Avenue."
Total silence fell. Alyx felt her stomach churn, even though she knew the truth, she still doubted whether it was real or not.
"Lily is in New York," said Marshall, astonished. "She's back and hasn't called me."
"That doesn't mean anything," Alyx said quickly, but her mind was also racing. Why didn't she call us? Not me either?
"I'm going to call her," announced Marshall, looking for his phone.
"No," said Barney, this time serious. "Marshall, don't call her. That changes nothing."
But Marshall was no longer listening. He dialed the hotel number, his hand trembling. Barney, surprised, waited to see what would happen; Alyx, with her stomach clenched and churning, didn't know whether to stop Marshall or run to vomit.
"Hello, Lily Aldrin's room, please," said Marshall. A pause. His expression changed from determination to confusion and then to horror. "Thank you." He hung up.
"What? What happened?" asked Barney.
Marshall looked at them, his eyes wide. "A guy answered... There's a guy in her room."
The rage, slow and fierce, began to replace the pain in his eyes. "I'm going to go there. I have to go to do... to tell her..."
"Marshall! You can't go like this! Everything could be worse; you could only make things worse!" Alyx stood in front of him, stopping him.
"Alyx, doesn't it bother you at all? She is our partner, and you protect whatever she does? Don't you want to know what's happening? Do you want me to stay here doing nothing? To sit here while she's with another guy in a hotel? You are capable; I am not. I love her!"
"I love her too, I love you both, I just don't want you to..." She couldn't complete her idea when...
"No, you can't, Marshall," interrupts Ted from the apartment door.
The three turned. Robin and Ted were there, with their backpacks still on and soaked. It had started raining in Montauk, and they had decided to return early.
Ted approached, his gaze fixed on Marshall. "Right now, you're not Marshall. You're the miserable, whiny, shampoo-sniffing ghost of Marshall. And a guy like you doesn't have the slightest chance with a girl like Lily."
Marshall looked at him, hurt and furious.
"You know who could have a chance," continued Ted, his voice lowering to a softer tone. "The real Marshall. But if you go there right now like this, you'll ruin everything, and she will never forgive you. And you won't forgive yourself either."
"Of course, even though I tell you this, you'll do the opposite, so have a good weekend. Let's go, Robin," said Ted decisively, taking Robin to his room.
Marshall remained standing, breathing heavily.
Barney whistled softly. "Wow. Who needs strippers when you have Ted Mosby giving speeches?"
Alyx said nothing. She just watched Marshall, seeing the internal struggle reflected on his face: the childish impulse to run towards the pain against that small flame of dignity that Ted tried to keep in him. And she thought of her own struggle with what she saw before arriving and ignored for so long, fearing the future whether alone or if there's a possibility of having those she loves by her side.
Ted leaned against his bedroom door, exhausted.
"Do you think I was too hard on him?" he asked Robin.
"You didn't say anything," she replied, but her tone said it all.
"He's the one who said 'tough love'," Ted defended himself.
"Yeah, 'tough love', not 'give the guy a rope'," Robin retorted.
Ted sighed. "I was too hard on him."
"A little," admitted Robin, taking his hand.